Rain!

Are you reading anything good at the moment? After dipping into a few non-fiction books and not really getting into anything, I started this book on Sunday and am almost done. It is so good - entertaining, a little weird and totally captivating. On Sunday I had grand plans to bake sourdough cinnamon scrolls for brekkie to make the most of the rainy/cosy vibes but we ended up having yum cha with friends instead. The scrolls were finished... at about 8pm that night and made for a cheery Monday breakfast, when it was well and truly bucketing down. Since then, I've been watching Oscar video clips and re-watching this hilarious choral tribute to Laura Dern :)

Another very nice thing - last week I loved The Show of Delights episode of This American Life. I've seen it recommended in so many different places and it lived up the hype for me. If you're not much of a podcast listener, maybe give this four-minute section of the episode a go. I almost cried while listening to it on the bus. It's been ages since I listened to this podcast and I've missed it. This episode made me think about taking a break from the interview-heavy shows and going back to narrative driven ones, which tend to be more surprising and better at getting me out of my own head.

In food news, I'm planning to make my very first wedding cake! My brother Zachary is getting married in March and I offered to make the cake, initially thinking - how hard can it be? Now I'm actually doing it, I'm a tiny bit nervous/doubtful. I can definitely make cakes and put my heart into it but have been doing some research and now understand there's a bit more too it than that, including cake maths. Still, I think I'll be fine!

I'm heading to Melbourne next week for work and am hoping to find some time to sneak off and buy a t-shirt from my favourite donut shop. Speaking of work, here's a lovely roasted nectarine dessert from Julia Ostro, with nut crumble and lemon cream. If you trade the cream for yoghurt, it becomes an extra lovely breakfast. Her new cookbook comes out soon and it looks so good!

Have the very best week.

X

Summertime feast with gravlax and sorbet

After roasting a chicken on Christmas Eve, baking a ham on Christmas morning and then a pavlova roll on Boxing Day, I came to my senses and decided to leave the oven alone. For New Year's Eve, the entire meal was made without heat, which was just as well because we'd had a run of days over 35 degrees and no air conditioning at home.

I bought myself a copy of Alison Roman's Dining In for Christmas and made her gravlax using some whiskey leftover from the Christmas ham and dill leftover from a salad. My mother-in-law Wendy makes the most delicious gravlax as a Curran Christmas tradition, and I was nervous making my own, because I hardly ever cook fish and have never cured anything in my life.

We had a back up NYE plan to go out for tacos but ended up eating the delicious salmon with sparkling rose, fresh bread and butter, and a simple salad with an addictive dressing I discovered on Christmas Eve.

For dessert, there were retro sorbet cups served in grapefruit halves, which were super refreshing, and some fancy chocolate my brother brought all the way from London. I bought the best sorbet I could find (blackcurrant and fig), and am still working on my sorbet swirling techniques.

It was such a special but easy summer dinner where everything's made in advance, and just ready to be served. I'd make again for friends, or just a Saturday night :)

Hope you've had a wonderful start to the year - still can't believe it's 2019.

X

Holiday snaps

It's a cold and wet Monday here in Canberra. So I thought I'd share some photos from our mid summer holiday on the south coast. Late last month we drove to Mollymook and spent just short of a week going to the beach, exploring the nearby towns and chilling out. It was such a relaxing and happy trip. Here are a few highlights :)




I was a tiny bit nervous about taking a surfing lesson but I really loved it! The lessons were my Christmas gift to Tony, and we took a class together at Mollymook beach. I've never been super confident in the surf but going out with an instructor on our second day really helped me feel braver in the ocean and have more fun. Contacts also helped :)

Tony had a private class on our last day, so I watched with a cinnamon scroll and coffee before going for a one last swim ahead of the drive home.

We stayed in this new Airbnb, which came with freshly picked cherry tomatoes, homemade marmalade and a welcome plate of chocolates and grapes. It was such a cosy base, especially on the  rainy days where we lay around watching movies, cooking and playing chess. One day I'd love to stay in this retro house with friends.

One of our favourite things about being based in Mollymook was being close to Ulladulla and Milton. We had a handy list of must-visit places from our friends Sarah and Mark. They pointed us in the direction of Maverick's for coffee, and we were there most days.

On our final night, we treated ourselves to dinner at St Isadore in Milton. This pork katsu cutlet was delicious! There was a summer crumble for dessert, which I'd love to replicate at home before stone fruit season is over.

We're hoping to plan a few trips this year and have a tiny cabin stay booked for May. For now, I have a few extra freckles to remind me of this year's summer holiday :)

P.S Does anyone else make a to do list on holidays?? I make a similar one for weekends. 

An end of summer pie + a third birthday

Sometime in January, I became obsessed with making a peach pie. I planned to bake one for a weekend away with friends who were visiting from Iceland. I bookmarked this recipe but time got away and I didn't want to rush it.

This Sunday, with summer coming to a close, I made my pie. It's a white peach pie and we ate it a la mode on a 35 degree day. It might become a summer tradition.

I also wanted to say that somewhere along the way, this blog turned three! So much has changed since I started writing it from my dining table in Wagga Wagga.

I now have five nieces and nephews, live in Canberra, and have gone from driving around regional New South Wales for work to flying to different capital cities. I've tried a gazillion different recipes and shared a handful of favourites here, and become even more of a podcast nerd (I listened to this while pie-making).

Thank you for joining me here. I can't wait to share more interviews, musings, podcast recommendations and recipes this year.

X

Summer 2017

Hello again! It's nice to be back, I hope you had a relaxing summer break. On Monday I head back to work after three weeks off. It's been so good. We stayed in Canberra and our days were filled with summery things - books, movies, and plenty of delicious food. We had a handful of really hot days, but most mornings and nights have been lovely and cool. Here are a few photos, beginning on Christmas Day, which started with presents, panettone, mangoes and coffee:

I was chuffed to unwrap so many thoughtful gifts, especially two new cookbooks to inspire slow summer meals. I actually claimed all of the Christmas cooking this year, which is manageable if it's just for two. I baked sourdough for a lunchtime picnic by the lake and for dinner, I made jerk chicken that cooks sitting atop a half-empty beer can (nerve-wracking!), corn cobs with lime mayo, a peach and fennel salad, and my mother-in-law's cheesecake for dessert.

Because we were home for Christmas, we called our families and FaceTimed our niece and nephew before settling in with a bunch of DVDs - Le Week-End was especially good. We saw a few movies at the cinema too, and my favourite was easily Call Me By Your Name. Watch it on the big screen if you can, it's mesmerising.

It always takes me a good week to settle into holiday mode and somewhere between Christmas and New Years, I stopped waking up at six and thinking about errands and lay around reading instead.

I finished A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work in two days, and highly recommend it to any Helen Garner fan. Each chapter is dedicated to a book and period of her life, and draws from letters and journals from the time, as well as interviews with friends, publishers and Helen herself. I immediately followed it up with The Feel of Steel, and am listening to True Stories as an audiobook. It's especially enjoyable because Helen reads it!

I also read... a finance book. This one to be exact. It's a little cheesy in parts but it's straightforward and practical. I've been fudging it this far! Here's a cheat's guide from Monique Bowley.

Peak happiness hit when I could ride to the shops and buy a Calypso mango and a punnet of raspberries for five dollars. Being at home meant I could cook anytime I liked. Swedish crepes were a highlight, I'm planning to make them for my sister's family who are moving to Canberra in a few short weeks (!!!!). I reckon my niece and nephew will love filling them and rolling them up. Nutella and strawberry was my favourite combination :) I made currant buns from the same book, and we ate them warm for afternoon tea.

On New Year's Day, we took a homemade pizza and a bottle of wine down to the foreshore. Looking back on 2017, I'm reminded of the fact that we helped made marriage equality law, and that people finally started saying 'We believe the women'.

2018 is already looking different. I am so excited about living in the same city as my sister, brother-in-law and their two kids. I'm making spaghetti bolognese to help them get through the first busy week and will take over some local ice cream too. And when I get back to work, I'll be trying out a nine-day fortnight. I feel like a long weekend every other week will make way for more creativity and life :)

Everything we talked about in 2017

I had a head start on the holidays and it's been great. We tackled jobs around the house that'd been neglected for months (changing tricky lightbulbs, getting rid of wasps!), wrapped Christmas presents, and watched The Room so that we can see The Disaster Artist on Boxing Day. Best of all, it's all been done at our own pace, which could be the very best thing about being on holidays.

Thank you for hanging out here this year! Have a relaxing, fun and delicious summer. Tell me if you cook something great, finish an excellent book or figure out something big over the break - I always love hearing from you. I'll catch you in the new year, in the meantime, here's a round up of some of my favourite posts from 2017:

But first, Christmas weekend links:

• I bought this fun one-piece for our beach holiday next month 
• A stunning essay about the life and death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, penned by his partner Mimi O'Donnell
• Roasted asparagus with haloumi and mint would make a delicious light meal, or Christmas side
• 2017's best books by women (so many good titles to choose from)
• On that note - the best podcasts of 2017 (the 2016 version was so good, I'm hoping this one is just as great)
• Too cute - a gingerbread house party for toddlers
• New Zealand Post ran a nationwide Secret Santa! 
• And if you're in the market for a calendar, might you consider the Freedom calendar? All proceeds go to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

From the blog, things to make and eat:

• Bircher muesli with hazelnut crumble
• Easy banana ice cream
• Blueberry green tea smoothie with honey and mint (a summer fave)
• Sourdough pikelets, for snacking
• My favourite chocolate cake recipes, for celebrations big and small
• Plus trusty dinner and dessert recipes from Sarah and Carla, like a spinach and feta pie with cherry tomatoes and a chocolate ripple cake!

Fun things to read, hear, and watch:

• Six books I loved this year (plus what it's like to switch to a Kindle)
• A podcast series about consent
• Three podcasts I discovered this year - The Daily, Strangers and Sleepover
• Plus three books that are easy to dip in and out of

Super fun style tips from Real Girl Wardrobes:

• Anne Barnetson is an illustrator and bookseller from Perth, who loves bold lipsticks and patterns
• Sophie Kesteven is a journalist from Far North Queensland who tries to embrace all colours

Things I worked out in 2017:

• What I buy for new babies (a new friend also says nappies and meals are great!)
• Finding a morning routine
• Making your own birthday cake is actually the best
• How to survive winter
• Who my role models are
• And very handy - how to stay sane with things get busy (or... how to avoid cracking it at work)

Travel notes from:

• Sydney, Adelaide and Darwin
• Melbourne
• Hobart
• Plus how to feel at home (almost) anywhere

And a shortlist of my favourite on and offline finds of the year:

• Good stuff, the girl power edition
• Spring things, including a hilarious and moving dance tribute to a late friend, and Australian creatives talking about burnout
• For the hungry, a simple recipe blog from Melbourne and one way to cut back on plastic bags

Happy holidays! X

Morning smoothie with a caffeine kick

Do you drink coffee all year round? In summer I love having mine cold. Last week I started making a morning smoothie with coffee, banana and cinnamon, based on a favourite smoothie from a Sydney cafe called Bloom. Theirs is called the Crazy Ape :)

This smoothie is best enjoyed iced cold. So if you have a few minutes the night before, brew your coffee and store it in the fridge, and pop a few peeled bananas in the freezer too. This is my go-to breakfast if I'm running around (or running late!) in the morning.

Morning smoothie
Serves 2, though it's easily halved if you're just making one for yourself

You'll need:

2 ripe bananas, frozen
1 cup of espresso, chilled
2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
2 sprinkles of cinnamon
A dash of milk to blend, roughly 1/4 cup

Here's how:

Add your frozen bananas to your blender, breaking them up as you go. Then add the espresso, yoghurt, cinnamon and a dash of milk. Blend and add more milk as required. I like mine as a thickshake, so add as little as possible.

One last tip:

The riper your bananas the better, as they'll be extra sweet. My green grocer discounts them, and lets me choose them from the cold room! I buy about a dozen at a time, and leave peeled frozen bananas in the freezer for smoothies and homemade ice cream. You could also add a teaspoon of cacao or hot chocolate mix (I love Mork Chocolate) to mix it up.

Easy banana ice cream

It's been a long hot summer but I've found a way to cope - homemade banana ice cream. Right before the last heatwave hit, I picked up some cooking bananas at the markets and stashed them in the freezer. The plan was to make smoothies but many batches of ice cream were made instead :) 

Easy banana ice cream

Serves 2-3

You will need:

2 bananas, frozen and chopped into small pieces

75g greek yoghurt

2tsp honey or more to taste

A dash of vanilla extract

Here's how:

Place all of your ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer the mixture into a plastic container and freeze for 30 minutes. Using a fork, mix the ice cream in the container, taking care to scrape around the edges. Freeze for another 30 minutes or up to three hours, depending on how firm you like your ice cream. Just be sure to stir it every 30 minutes or so.

One hour will give you a frozen yoghurt-like consistency, Tony prefers it at the three hour mark, when it can be scooped like ice cream.

Try topping it with dark chocolate chunks or you could even make your own ice magic while you're waiting for it to set :)

South Coast beach holiday

We've just come back from a few days on the coast. We lucked out with sunny days and no snakes and spent our days swimming, reading and exploring new towns. I took plenty of pics! Here are a few of my favourites:

We stocked up on the best kinds of supplies before we left and packed a box of pastries, some nice red wine, a pile of DVDs from the library and chocolate too. It was a hot day and we stopped in Braidwood for cold coconuts and chicken sandwiches at this cute corner cafe. From our window seat we watched a huge convoy of cars heading back to Canberra. Our late booking was paying off.

We rented this beautiful house in Bawley Point. Each morning we had breakfast on the deck and at night Tony made pizza. We took turns in the hammock and I flipped through the entire cookbook collection. Without any reception, I read two books my friend Kristy sent me for Christmas and we found ourselves hooked on the tennis finals :)

We haven't taken a decent road trip since we drove to South Australia at the end of Tony's PhD. It was so nice to spend time by the sea. We swam every day and I watched the waves crash on the beach before dinner. There were two beaches we could walk to but my favourite was Mollymook beach, where the water was calm and icy and there were striped beach umbrellas everywhere.

My friend Sarah sent me a list of her favourite places to visit in Milton, Mollymook and Ulladulla, which made our first trip to the coast super easy. We had veggie burgers and espresso shakes at Pilgrims and took a class at this cheery yoga studio. I loved the little produce shop at Milkhaus, a wholefoods canteen just outside Milton. And we stopped at Cupitt's winery and bought bottle of wine to save for our wedding anniversary and filled Tony's growler too :)

One morning a loud chorus of crickets woke us up before dawn, so we wandered down to the beach to see if we could catch the sunrise. There was a lot of sea mist about, ahead of a hot 40 degree day, so we didn't see much. I did love noticing the subtle changes in light and the arrival of fishermen as the day began.

I came home with a few souvenirs - a funny top, a market bag and tiny mementos from the beach. It's back to work tomorrow but it will be an extra short one. We'll be heading to Sydney at the end of the week to farewell my grandfather. I'll be taking a short break from blogging while I catch up with family but I'll be back next week with more good things to share. Until then, take care xx